Neag Professor Receives National Award

Posted on March 24, 2011February 16, 2023 by

Linda Pescatello, a professor of kinesiology in the Neag School of Education, and a Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention (CHIP) Principal Investigator is being awarded the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)’s 2011 Citation Award. The Citation Award is the ACSM’s second-highest honor.

The ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world, with a stated mission of promoting and integrating scientific research, education, and practical applications of sports medicine and exercise science to maintain and enhance physical performance, fitness, health, and quality of life.

Dr. Pescatello will receive the award at the ACSM’s Annual Meeting in Denver on June 3^rd in recognition of her overall contributions to exercise science and her numerous years of service to the ACSM through various committees and board positions.

“Professor Pescatello exemplifies the cross-cutting expertise of an ACSM leader in making significant contributions to research and scholarship, clinical care and education, particularly related to the areas of hypertension and exercise genomics,” ACSM Immediate Past President Mindy Millard-Stafford wrote in her introduction of Pescatello for the ACSM awards ceremony.

Pescatello was nominated for the award by her ACSM colleagues, including Millard-Stafford and another ACSM past president who together noted her “great leadership to help formalize an evidence-based process” for ACSM position stands.

The ACSM publishes position stands when enough research has been completed to support a position on scientific grounds. According to its web site, its pronouncements, including position stands, “are advisory only, but they carry considerable weight in the development of policy by rulemaking committees, and of standards set forth by professional organizations and governmental bodies.”

Janice Thompson, a professor of public health nutrition at the University of Bristol and a past chair of the ACSM’S Pronouncements Committee, which manages all aspects of the ACSM’s position stand development, noted Pescatello’s “dedication, strong work ethic, impressive organizational and leadership skills, and high scientific standards” in her letter of support for Pescatello’s nomination for the Citation Award.

“Her research is amongst the best in the world, and I have been able to incorporate many of her findings into my nutrition-related research and teaching programs. She has also been directly responsible for putting into place important, substantial changes in the policies and procedures of ACSM’s Pronouncements Committee, and her contributions have directly resulted in the publication of the highest quality position stands,” Thompson wrote. “I consider her not only a peer, but a role model in many ways…. She maintains a cool head when others are not able to do so, and her steadfast, fair, and consistent behaviors are truly invaluable in all areas of academe.”

Pescatello began her career as a high school biology and chemistry teacher and a track and basketball coach. After earning her Ph.D. in Exercise Science at UConn, she worked for 15 years at New Britain General Hospital, first as manager of the hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program and then director of its Department of Health Promotion. Pescatello joined the UConn faculty in 1998.

A prolific researcher, Pescatello serves, or has served, as principal or co-investigator on a number of federal grant awards totaling more than $16 million – including six active grants. She also currently has two active internal UConn grants and five additional grant applications (including internal UConn, ACSM and federal awards) submitted and pending.

Pescatello has published more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and she has a new book, Exercise Genomics, being published by Humana Press this month.

Through federal grants, Pescatello and colleagues currently are studying statins’ effects on muscle function, exercise as an intervention for hazardous drinking college students, non-treatment seeking adults with alcohol disorders and cocaine abusers, and the use of prize incentives to promote physical activity for HIV substance abusers and to promote weight loss in college students.

Her active internal grants are focused on comparing the immediate after-effects of aerobic and ischemic handgrip exercises on blood pressure and vascular function.

Among Pescatello’s contributions to ACSM, she has served as vice president, chair of its pronouncements committee, and associate editor and now senior editor of the ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. She also was responsible for the organization’s first evidence-based position stand, which addressed hypertension, and now is working to create a database to further the ACSM’s goal of making all of its position stands and guidelines evidence-based.

Finally, the colleagues who nominated Pescatello for the Citation Award noted her excellent mentoring skills, witnessed in action with her students who routinely accompany and present with her at ACSM annual meetings, and the public service she has performed for the exercise science profession by translating her work for the public by publishing numerous educational articles geared to fitness instructors.

NCATE Features the Neag School

Posted on March 24, 2011October 18, 2018 by

The Neag School of Education is the first institution in the nation to be featured on the website of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in a new web series entitled “Stories from the Field.”

The NCATE believes that the clinically based teacher preparation model at the Neag School exemplifies many of the principles recommended by the national expert National Blue Ribbon Commission on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning. The example set by the Neag School will move the field forward by sharing effective practices in improving P-12 student achievement.

U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan advocates teacher preparation programs “be fully grounded in clinical practice, with evidence-based knowledge interwoven with academic content and professional courses.”

“The Neag School of Education and its partners have successfully collaborated to provide candidates meaningful and diverse clinical and field experiences resulted in well-prepared candidates for diverse schools. It has successfully demonstrated rigor, quality, and leadership in continuously improving educator preparation and addressing P-12 school needs,” said Dr. Yi Huang, vice president for accreditation at the NCATE.

Hartford’s Bulkeley High School Wins Award for Neag Partnership

Posted on March 24, 2011December 9, 2016 by

Rene Roselle, clinical professor working at Bulkeley High School, wrote in the school’s application for this award, “In preparing a nomination for the Richard W. Clark Award for Exemplary Partner School Work, I thought ‘I wish the committee could spend some time with me at Bulkeley High School and then they could see.’ The magic of a partnership is hard to put into words.

“Bulkeley has approximately 1,500 students in grades 9-12. Students represent 42 different countries; 18 different languages can be heard in the halls. The school is approximately 69 percent Latino, 23 percent black and 8 percent white. The city struggles to meet the needs of children living in poverty and learning English while trying to test well on standardized tests,” Roselle continued.

“Administrative turnover, restructuring and resource allocation pressure us. Hartford has had seven superintendents in 10 years, three acting and four appointed. The city has endured state takeovers and failed bids to privatize,” Roselle wrote. “Through it all, the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education and Hartford have remained strongly committed to each other. The Neag School has placed 157 students at Bulkeley High School in four years and 400 students across our three-year program in the same amount of time. That is what we call a critical mass!”

A teacher preparatory academy, such as Bulkeley’s, serves as an example of long-term and in-depth partner work.

Established at the high school in collaboration with the Neag School, the academy provides support for current students and hope for the future. Its primary purpose is to recruit, support and prepare students interested in education.

The goal of this pathway is to provide a rigorous curriculum and field experiences through meaningful, creative and engaging learning opportunities. The academy emphasizes the importance of collaboration between a student and their teacher in the learning process, demonstrating best practices and ensuring all students are ready for postsecondary opportunities.

The academy option opened Aug. 31, 2009, to students who were entering grades 11 and 12 at Bulkeley and completed the application process. The option is part of Hartford’s All Choice initiative.

As the first program in Connecticut that pointedly focuses on preparing high school students to become teachers, implications may be far-reaching for Hartford and the state. In a time of teacher shortages, the program hopes to increase the pool of highly qualified candidates who will be able to fill the vacancies in critical content areas, increase the diversity of applicants and encourage students to return for careers in the city of Hartford as educators or other professionals who will benefit the community.

Learning Independent Living Skills

Posted on March 24, 2011October 18, 2018 by

Michelle Breckel, a senior majoring in special education, explains to Kyle about circles of companionship, a life skills game that demonstrates the often shifting boundaries that exist between people, ranging from the distance one keeps from strangers to the affection between a couple in a relationship. Photo by Jessica Tommaselli

By the time they’re young adults, most people have learned not to barge into an ongoing conversation with a totally unrelated comment. But for some, knowing how to connect appropriately with others is confusing.

UConn students are now reaching out to developmentally challenged 18- to 21-year-olds, demonstrating socially acceptable behavior as part of an innovative program that connects college students with high school students in special education.

Students Transitioning to Age Appropriate Routes (STAAR) is a partnership between UConn and Regional School District 19’s E.O. Smith High School in Mansfield. It brings students with learning and physical disabilities into a college setting so they can interact with students their own age. The UConn students are primarily interns in the advanced years of the Neag School of Education’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Teacher Education program (IB/M), who help the STAAR students learn independent living skills. These include finance, organization, health and wellness, safety and socialization.

Federal and state laws require public schools to provide services to special education students until they are 21, which means they may be attending school with 14-year-old high school freshmen. And STAAR students may have been micromanaged while in high school, moving as a distinct clique with an instructional assistant at their elbow all day.

“College students move in groups of two to four. You rarely see 10-15 college students walking together, so even getting places as part of a more natural group has to be learned,” says Christine Lee, the Region 19 special education teacher who leads STAAR. “Part of this program is practicing social skills; we want our students to learn what’s cool, like that you don’t just grab pretty girls or call someone 20 times in a day on their cell phone.”

High schools are required to provide leading edge, research-based instruction for young people with developmental disabilities or autism. Associate Professor Dr. Joe Madaus leads UConn’s Center on Postsecondary Education and Disability, a program in the Neag School that conducts research on the transition to postsecondary programs for students with disabilities, and works with STAAR.

“He’s an expert on transition services, and that’s what our program is all about,” says Lee.

At STAAR, Neag students can conduct their own research. For example, Michelle Breckel, a fourth-year Neag special education major and this past semester’s STAAR intern, did a case study of a STAAR student for a class. “I assessed her reading skills and comprehension and researched how her disorder affects her learning and how her scores go along with that,” Breckel says.

“Michelle was a wonderful teacher,” notes the student, known as Clarissa E, “and she taught me a lot about vocabulary. I like when our UConn interns come.”

Jessica Parlin, last year’s fifth-year Neag STAAR intern, found her calling as a teacher providing STAAR students with transitional services. “Just recently one of my former students approached me at a local store and had an amazingly appropriate conversation with me,” says Parlin. “It was really rewarding to know that when she’s not at school, she’s carrying those skills over.”

The Neag School’s distinctive teaching methods include placing aspiring teachers in classrooms that don’t match their ambitions, which sometimes leads to unexpected career shifts. Parlin, for example, had planned on teaching elementary school, and was delighted that UConn afforded her the flexibility to change her major to special education.

“Jessica was the best fifth-year intern I ever worked with,” Lee says. “She is an outstanding teacher, thanks to her UConn education. In fact, I’ve never had a less than phenomenal experience with UConn interns.”

Besides the Neag interns, other students volunteer to partner with STAAR students for fun and friendship as part of the UConn Best Buddies Association. Joanna Sajdlowska, who is majoring in communication disorders, says, “People my age, 20somethings, especially at UConn, are very accepting. We may have grown up in homes with two mothers, or just a dad, or with siblings adopted from all over the world. Because of mainstreaming, my generation has been exposed to people with disabilities from a young age.”

Sajdlowska nods emphatically as Lee comments, “We know that everyone wants to connect, wants to get married, wants a job to love and be passionate about – STAAR students have the same hopes and dreams that we have.”

Since many local parents are educators who value education, Lee says, “Moms and dads [of students at E.O. Smith High School] are very eager to enroll their children. UConn is the major draw … it’s a winner in so many ways, from sports, to research, to providing positive behavior examples for our students.”

The STAAR partnership began as a pilot program with one student when Debra Hultgren, director of special services for E.O. Smith High School, suggested it to Donna Korbel, director of UConn’s Center for Students with Disabilities. Along with the center’s Christine Wenzel, Korbel has been STAAR’s main liaison, helping the program grow.

“This amazing program has become so successful in a short amount of time because of immediate and continuing support by UConn’s offices of residential life and student affairs,” says Korbel. The program operates in the basement of Sprague Hall, which Korbel describes as, “an exceptional space. There’s a kitchen, a game room and a vocational component for the STAAR students because of the laundry located there. Even with space at such a premium, Residential Life was able to find an area that wasn’t being utilized by UConn students – it’s a credit to the university that we’ve been able to support this community-based opportunity for Region 19 students.”

Three students participated in the program’s second year, and the program has nearly doubled each year thereafter, going from three, to six, to 12, to its current enrollment of 22. STAAR students come from Killingly, Danielson, Scotland, Willimantic, Coventry and Storrs. And the program continues to grow: This semester, STAAR students will be teamed up with 20 students from a class on autism spectrum disorder taught by UConn psychology assistant professor Inge-Marie Eigsti.

Source: UConn Today. Reprinted with permission.

Neag School Selects New Students for Fall 2011

Posted on March 24, 2011July 19, 2017 by Shawn Kornegay

Neag School faculty have been busy interviewing prospective undergraduate students for Fall 2011 and recently selected most of the incoming class for the various programs. Prospective students went through an extensive selection process that included applications and portfolios, along with written and oral interviews.

For 2011, the Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Teacher Education Program (IB/M) admitted 117 new students. In the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG), 57 new students were accepted for the Hartford location and 19 for the Waterbury location. For candidates in pre-kinesiology, 56 new students were accepted.

“The spring semester every year, faculty sit down and look very, very carefully at a portfolio that is offered up by every candidate who wishes to enter the Neag School of Education,” said Dr. Wendy Glenn, director of Teacher Education at the Neag School. “These candidates are evaluated on a variety of different factors. Ultimately, they are invited into an interview that gives faculty an opportunity to meet each of the candidates and make a determination as to whether or not the student might have the potential to do well in our program.”

Faculty and administrators in the Neag School spend a lot of time evaluating and selecting candidates that leads to the admission of highly qualified pre-service teachers who are “up to the challenge of thinking innovatively and creatively about American public schools and their role as teachers in those schools,” said Glenn.

“The overall quality of applicants is improving every year, which makes this a very competitive process,” said Dr. Carl Maresh, department chair of kinesiology in the Neag Schol. “Furthermore, by the time these students submit applications to us they are already well focused on the direction they want their careers to go, which for most will also include graduate school or professional school preparation. These are very motivated and capable young men and women.”

For more information on the Neag School, visit www.education.uconn.edu.

Kraemer Publishes New Text Book on Exercise Physiology

Posted on March 24, 2011April 13, 2016 by

William J. Kraemer, Ph.D., a professor of kinesiology in the Neag School of Education, is releasing a new textbook book this month called Exercise Physiology: Integrating Theory and Application. The book aims to engage the undergraduate student’s interest in exercise physiology while relating concepts to practical job results. It also is the first book in exercise physiology to teach undergraduate students about the research process and how to evaluate information in this new age of evidence based practice.

The textbook is co-written by Steven J. Fleck, Ph.D. and chair of the sport science department at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and Michael R. Deschenes of William & Mary, who earned his master’s and Ph.D. at UConn and is a past winner of Neag’s Outstanding Kinesiology Professional and Outstanding Alumni Professional awards and is a professor and chair in kinesiology at the College of William and Mary.

Publishers say, “unlike other textbooks in the field, Kraemer, Fleck and Deschenes provide a publication that engages students with how the body works and responds to exercise, how to improve overall performance, as well as the vital health benefits of physical activity during the life span and for special physical conditions.” ”Writing a textbook for undergraduates is the most challenging task as one has to catch their interest and carefully choose the scope of understanding needed for the student. I think this book allows students to see how knowledge in exercise physiology is used in the many professional scenarios and how research is important in one’s professional practice,” says Kraemer

Exercise Physiology: Integrating Theory and Application contains instructional features and applications that facilitate student learning, while applying material to the environment and challenges students may face as young professionals.

The textbook is tailored for undergraduate courses in exercise science but can be adapted to other subject matter in which the information is important for professional preparation by students.

Kraemer has written or co-written three other book with multiple editions on resistance training and has edited one book on exercise endocrinology during his career. He has also authored and coauthored over 380 peer reviewed scientific publications in his field of exercise physiology. He also holds an appointment as a full professor in the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, along with an appointment as a professor of medicine at the UCONN Health Center/School of Medicine with the Center on Aging.

For more information, contact Kraemer at william.kraemer@uconn.edu.

Husky Sport’s ‘Read and Raise’ Fosters Literacy and Healthy Nutrition Skills

Posted on March 24, 2011December 9, 2016 by

Students from John C. Clark Elementary and Middle School complete forms for the Read and Raise program. Photo credit: Husky Sport

Husky Sport’s third annual literacy initiative, Read & Raise, is in high gear, encouraging Hartford students to read books, complete reading response worksheets and compete for various prizes, all the while raising money for continued Husky Sport efforts. The Husky Sport program is in the Neag School of Education‘s Department of Kinesiology.

Read & Raise takes place over the course of five months, working toward building positive relationships, creating a consistent UConn student presence in the Hartford public schools and assisting with literacy skill building.

This year, four Hartford elementary and middle schools, John C. Clark, Martin Luther King Jr., Fred D. Wish and America’s Choice at SAND School, are participating. Each school has been given a goal of 15,000 books, at $1 for every book read.

“Last year, we challenged them to read 10,000 and they easily surpassed it. From our end, we’re also trying to raise money that will go back to the kids’ programming in some way so that we can continue to do what we’re doing now,” said Dr. Jennifer Bruening, program developer and associate professor of sport management in the Neag School of Education. “We raise the money — students, faculty, staff — not the kids or teachers in Hartford. They read and support reading and we raise the money.”

Students and staff members of Husky Sport, a community outreach program founded in 2003, visit each school throughout the week, serving as liaisons between school officials, students and teachers. During schoolwide reading days, volunteers provide enthusiasm and motivational elements such as physical and nutrition-oriented UConn prizes.

“Any time you walk down a hallway or stop by a classroom, the students know it’s ‘UConn’ and will start proudly discussing how many books they read and asking when people are going to come to their classes to read with them, eat lunch with them in the cafeteria, or take them to a recess,” Bruening said. “I think everyone is truly impressed how committed the kids are to the challenge of reading so many books.”

Husky Sport’s mission is to integrate and promote nutrition, physical activity and life skills through its programming and incentives. Designers of the Read & Raise program further reinforce this by selecting books with athletic and health content.

In March and April, during March Madness, classes mirror the NCAA basketball tournament by competing against each other for a championship title. “We just concluded Unit II and are going to be taking the top 10 readers from each school to Springfield, Mass., for a day at the Basketball Hall of Fame,” Bruening said. “Our end prize is for the top three classes at each school to come to UConn for our all-day Olympic-style event, comprised of different physical activities and nutrition messages.”

Read & Raise has raised more than $40,000 since its launch and has already had a significant impact. The money raised through the program the past two years has supported Emeka Okafor’s Safe Blood for Africa organization. This year, all proceeds will go directly back to serve the kids in Husky Sport’s programs.

Anyone who loves kids and is dedicated to Husky Sport’s mission can get involved. Although a requirement for sport management majors, the community outreach program is not limited to any specific major.

For more information and to help support Read & Raise, visit Husky Sport’s website at huskysport.uconn.edu.

UConn’s Neag School Ranked Among the Nation’s Best Schools of Education

Posted on March 24, 2011December 9, 2016 by Shawn Kornegay

U.S. News & World Report Rankings The Neag School of Education continues to achieve top-ranking status as a graduate school of education in the U.S.; it is the #1 public graduate school of education in the Northeast, and it is overall #33 in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report.

In its annual review of the best graduate schools in the country released in March, U.S.News & World Report ranks the Neag School #33 among the 279 private and public education schools. Also significant are the rankings of the Neag School’s core programs, which are individually assessed by U.S. News. Three rank among the nation’s top 25, including: Elementary Education (18); Special Education (20); and Educational Leadership and Supervision (22).

Each year, U.S. News gathers opinion data from school superintendents and deans to rank professional school programs. Dr. Thomas DeFranco, dean of the Neag School, describes the findings as “very encouraging” and believes the rankings serve as one of several barometers used by the Neag School to assess its reputation and quality of its programs.

DeFranco also believes a factor helping to build the Neag School’s reputation is its work with public schools in Connecticut and across the country. “Faculty within the Neag School are not only focused on research and scholarship, they are committed to working in partnership with classroom teachers and sharing information about best practices and improving the academic performance of children,” he says.

According to an alumni survey response, “I think the most valuable experiences I had in the Neag School were the connections I made with my professors. I always felt well supported and mentored by the professors I had, and I still email with several of them for advice and help. These professors are not only experts in their fields, but valuable resources and friends to all students in the Neag School.”

“Our goal is to produce highly qualified teachers, principals, superintendents and health professionals who will impact the academic performance and health and well-being of children and adults in Connecticut and in the nation,” said DeFranco.

“Based on the indicators from the U.S. News report, we are certainly moving in the right direction toward our goal,” said DeFranco.

For more information on the Neag School of Education, visit www.education.uconn.edu.

Letter from the Dean: You’re Invited to the Neag Alumni Society Awards Dinner

Posted on March 24, 2011May 5, 2025 by

Neag Alumni Awards Dear Alumni and Friends of the Neag School of Education:

The Neag School of Education Alumni Society and the faculty of the Neag School of Education cordially invite you to attend our 13th Annual Awards Dinner on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the South Campus Ballroom (Rome Ballroom) on the Storrs campus. Click here for directions or here for the UConn campus map.

This evening promises to be memorable as faculty and alumni gather to formally recognize the achievements of some of our outstanding graduates. It is our hope that you will be among those returning to the University for this event. Our award recipients are educators who have made significant contributions across all levels of education. We know that you will agree with our outstanding selection of alumni to honor:

The Distinguished Alumnus is Ms. Fran Mainella, B.S. ’69, visiting scholar with Clemson University’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. Prior to that, she had a 40-year park and recreation career culminating as director of the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Parks Service.

The Outstanding Higher Education Professional is Dr. Jean A. Wihbey, Ph.D., ’02, provost with the Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

The Outstanding School Administrator is Mr. W. Kurt Telford, B.S., ’79, principal with West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, NC.

The Outstanding School Educator is Ms. Rachel L. Buck, B.S. ’01, M.A. ’02, math teacher with the Connecticut IB Academy, East Hartford, CT.

The Outstanding Kinesiology Professional is Dr. Heather Gibson, M.A., ’89, Ph.D, ’94, associate professor in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management at the University of Florida and an associate director of theEric Friedheim Tourism Institute in Gainesville, FL.

The Outstanding Physical Therapy Professional is Ms. Sidway A. McKay, B.S. ’85, physical therapist with the Concentra Medical Centers in Denver, CO and lecturer/adjunct faculty member with the University of Colorado, School of Medicine’s Physical Therapy Program.

The Outstanding Professional is Dr. Diana L. Payne, Ph.D. ‘07, assistant professor and education coordinator with Connecticut Sea Grant, in Groton, CT.

Come and bring others with you to honor your colleagues and friends who are so influential in the field of education. The evening begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. The entrees include a chicken or salmon choice. A vegetarian meal is also available. Attire is semi-formal. No-host bar. The cost of the dinner is $45.00 per person for members of the UConn Alumni Association ($55 for non-members). To make reservations, go online at www.UConnAlumni.com/NeagAlumniDinner or call (888) 822-5861 by May 5, 2011. If you have questions, please call Shawn Kornegay at (860-486-3675) or shawn.kornegay@uconn.edu.

We look forward to greeting you on May 14^th for our celebration.

Sincerely,

Thomas C. DeFranco

Dean, Neag School of Education

Neag Math Duo Decodes Language Barriers to Math Reasoning

Posted on March 24, 2011December 9, 2016 by

Neag math instructor and researcher Megan Staples, top center, watches as Hartford teachers work together on a math problem during the summer 2008 Math ACCESS institute at UConn. Photo credit: Robert Frahm

It all started with the fear and loathing Strand 25 brings to some math classrooms in the state.

Strand 25 is the part of the benchmark Connecticut Mastery Test that presents what was once known as “word” or “thought” problems. Now they’re known as “open-ended, non-routine” problems with a lot of language involved. Similar problems appear on the state high school standardized exam the Connecticut Academic Performance Test. And they present particular issues for students who are challenged with fluency in English.

“Teachers are sometimes told, ‘Don’t even bother trying to teach Strand 25,’” Neag math educator Dr. Megan Staples says.

Staples and Neag colleague Dr. Mary Truxaw, both assistant professors in mathematics education in the Neag School of Education, arrived at UConn about the same time with a similar interest in language as the “invisible curriculum” in mathematics and higher order thinking. They started with research on the topic with the help of four participating Hartford teachers in the summer of 2007.

In the second year, supported by a state grant, they expanded the work into a professional development project with 23 teachers at Batchelder, Kennelly and Bulkeley public schools in Hartford and the private Watkinson School to link language goals to the content goals in their math lesson plans. Teachers also met bimonthly in teams during the school year to support one another and develop the lessons.

That project was known as ACCESS, or Academic Content and Communications Equals Student Success, and Staples and Truxaw were co-directors. The project Staples and Truxaw seeded continued unofficially (without funding) in the 2009-10 school year and is alive in a similar form this year through Neag’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Teacher Education Program at Batchelder.

“We learned that we could make an important impact so that, if you deliberately attend to language, students can make progress on these open-ended responses,” Staples says.

Neag Dean Tom DeFranco, whose field is mathematics, says much research has been done to help K-12 students improve their problem solving, but by applying this newer research on math discourse to the classroom, “Drs. Staples and Truxaw are providing teachers effective instructional routines and strategies that will help their students be successful problem solvers.”

Not far behind that success, however, is what Staples and Truxaw both cite as the huge benefit from sustaining collaboration among teachers related to specific classroom work.

Truxaw says the collaboration was often magical, better teaching resulted and so did increased mutual respect. “When there are not enough hours in their day, to figure out ways to make that happen is really powerful,” she says.

William Conroy (IB/M Grad 2007), a third-grade teacher at Batchelder who participated in the ACCESS project, agrees and would like to be able to pursue a more complete training.

Conroy’s biggest realization from the project was that “we could reach all the students” through the lesson plans. “We were able to create polished lessons that were able to focus on how the kids could justify their answers and how they could have a deep understanding of math concepts as opposed to our teaching the skill discretely,” he says.

Truxaw and Staples adopted three pillars that cropped up in their reading during the development of the project: centralize justification in the classroom, develop academic language, and make rigorous content accessible to all.

Then they applied a professional model that incorporates language and content goals in the lesson. This strategy is “good for anybody who may not have the academic language,” Truxaw says. “I find I’m doing that in my university lessons now, partly to model but partly because you need the vocabulary and you need to make sense of it and impact the language that’s there,” she says.

Many of the students in Hartford schools are fluent in English socially but not academically. “You think kids get it because they say socially appropriate things but they still may not be able to justify, they still might not be able to understand the academic language. And that’s a huge thing for me,” Truxaw says.

The researchers point out that it takes about seven years for an English learner to become academically fluent, but students are eligible for state-supported programs only for 30 months.

Language concerns are not about vocabulary per se but often about subtle differences in colloquial speech. For instance, in doing math comparisons, the difference between the phrases “at least” and “the least” can be huge. A problem asking students to combine packages of hot dog buns to come up with at least 40 buns for a picnic can be confusing.

“They will aim for exactly 40 but not realize you could have slightly more than 40,” Truxaw says. Prepositions and articles make a huge difference, she says, “but you don’t think about it at that level.”

One technique for a student struggling with explaining a math concept is to give him or her a “language frame,” such as, “I know the answer is correct/incorrect because…” Truxaw says. “A language frame is not doing the math for them but it’s giving them a little scaffolding to explain what they did.”

Carl Lager, a noted researcher at University of California, Santa Barbara, says math, and particularly algebra, is where push comes to shove for the English learner struggling to close the achievement gap. “No other mathematics content filters out English learners faster than algebra. Algebra allows students to move from concrete to abstract thinking,” he wrote in 2004.

Staples says that, especially with new federal Common Core standards for math going into effect in 2014, there is much work ahead in the area of expressing mathematical reasoning. “I still feel like we’re at the beginning of it. You have a whole bunch of people working on language, but they don’t get close enough to content. And then you have this group of people who are so close to content they aren’t steeped in the language. We need more work on the intersection.”

Truxaw and Staples, along with Dr. Fabiana Cardetti in the math department, have applied for a state Department of Higher Education grant as part of their math leadership work to train teachers who support other teachers in the classroom. The two researchers have published and presented their work widely in the last two years.